


In the Ring

by owlmoose



Series: Pieces of Thedas [17]
Category: Dragon Age, Dragon Age: Awakening
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Tumblr Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-31
Updated: 2012-10-31
Packaged: 2017-11-17 11:59:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/551310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlmoose/pseuds/owlmoose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Wardens of Amaranthine enjoy some good old-fashioned sparring.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Ring

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr fic written for two prompts: "Nathaniel and Anders, weapons training" and "Awakening-era Justice".

“I still don’t understand why I don’t get to train with the others,” Anders muttered, crossing his arms and leaning against the frame of the door that led into the practice yard, watching as a team of new recruits, Wardens and militia both, lined up and fired at their targets, with varying levels of success. “How will I get better if I don’t practice?”  
Nathaniel rolled his eyes and shook his head. Perhaps that was overkill, but he’d found that Anders often needed to be told “No” more than once, sometimes in several different ways. “The others won’t freeze anyone solid if they misfire.”

“Humph!” Anders glared at him. “It’s anti-mage prejudice, pure and simple.”

“It’s like talking to a rock,” Nathaniel grumbled under his breath. “Or that statue of Andraste out in the courtyard.” Anders cast him a sharp glance, and he waved him off. “Never mind. Look, you know if there were other mages, the Warden-Commander would let you all practice together. As it is, it’s too dangerous for you to go up against raw recruits.” Said recruits were walking off the field, leaving arrow scattered around on the hay, and the pages had started gathering them up. “But maybe we can find someone with a little more experience for you. Defend yourself!” And without any more warning, he whipped the bow off his back, pulled an arrow from his quiver, and fired at Anders’s knee.

Anders just barely had enough time to throw up a shield; the arrow bounced off it to fall harmlessly to the ground, and a grin crept up his cheeks. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

In response, Nathaniel drew and fired again. This time Anders dodged, and threw back a blast of ice as Nathaniel danced out of the way. Nathaniel smiled in return and readied another arrow, scanning his opponent for weak points and guessing what spell might be next in Anders’s arsenal. This was going to be fun.

-x-

A commotion in the practice yard drew Warden-Commander Sereda Aeducan out of her office and onto the ramparts of Vigil’s Keep, where she could look down on the action. When she saw who it was, she grinned — two of her senior Wardens, Anders and Nathaniel Howe, locked in a sparring match: Anders putting on quite a light show as Nathaniel attempted to sneak around to his back. The recruits who had been in practice until a few minutes before were gathered around to watch, open-mouthed. Sigrun, Oghren, and Varel were downstairs, too, standing together in a corner, and it looked like money had already changed hands. Sereda wondered who had bet on whom.

And then there was Justice, alone on the ramparts, his hands resting on the wall as he stared down into the yard. As she came to stand next to him, he turned to her, and she saw he was frowning, a touch of confusion furrowing his brow; it was the expression Sereda had come to expect him to wear. “Why do Howe and the mage fight?” he asked. “They are not enemies. Nor are they angry with each other, to my knowledge.”

“It’s not a fight, they’re sparring. For practice.” Sereda raised an eyebrow at him. “Didn’t Kristoff ever spar with his companions in the Wardens?”

Justice lifted his chin and raised his eyes slightly to the skies, an attitude Sereda had often seen him take when he was attempting to access his host’s memories. “I believe he did. I have— flashes, images of crossing swords with men and women he considered friends, then laughing together afterwards. But that was always blade against blade. For Howe to attempt to fight off a mage would seem to be… unbalanced.”

Sereda chuckled. “You’ve seen me take down mages, haven’t you? I think Nathaniel will be just fine. In fact, he’s where I’d put my money, if it were at all appropriate for me to lay a wager.”

“Hm.” Justice watched for a moment longer, then shook his head. “But surely there are less dangerous ways to sharpen your skills.”

“There’s practice dummies, sure,” Sereda replied with a shrug. “Like the recruits were using earlier. But there’s only so far you can go without fighting a live opponent. You’re forced to think much more creatively. Besides, it’s fun.” She poked Justice lightly in the ribs. “You know, fun. It’s a fairly foreign concept to you, I realize, but I recommend trying it more often. Do you want to go a round when they’re finished?”

Justice looked at her with surprise. “Would it be proper for me to fight my superior officer? And you are so much smaller than I — I would be concerned about damaging you.”

At that, Sereda had to laugh. “You should worry more about yourself, my friend. I spar with the king all the time. He has a similar fighting style and outweighs you by at least two stone, and I manage to bust his chops at least two times out of three.” She nudged him again. “So there’s no reason not to accept my offer. Unless you’re afraid I might beat you.”

After a moment of thought, he nodded. “Very well then. I accept your request, and we will duel with honor.”

“You might duel with honor. My style is a little more like our man Nathaniel’s.” She nodded down at the practice field, where Anders had just now yielded with a shout — Nathaniel had found his opening and taken his opponent down with a foot to the knee. “See, I would have won that bet. Good thing for you I didn’t make it. Ready for your turn?” He nodded, and she smiled at him. “I’ll get my blades and meet you in ten minutes.”


End file.
